The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) unveiled its Clean Transportation Plan to the public on Wednesday. The goal of the plan is to curb greenhouse gas emissions, promote environmental justice, and create good paying jobs with clean transportation.
The draft plan was worked on for a year by NCDOT and 220 stakeholders, encouraging what they say is an equitable transition to cleaner transportation alternatives, such as zero- and low-emission vehicles, and offering strategies to deploy electric charging stations and other clean transportation infrastructure to support the transition.
Recommendations from the plan include a clean transportation team and an interagency task force which would institute policies and programs which promote access and affordability to clean transportation options, which will prioritize infrastructure investments for traditionally underserved communities.
The plan will also evaluate and update project prioritization programs along with partnering with electric utilities to promote clean energy and clean transportation.
NCDOT said, “the planning process created the opportunity to reflect on the impacts of past decisions, listen to the needs of traditionally underserved communities, and work to ensure that the externalities of the past are not carried forward into the future. In North Carolina (as with other states), transportation decisions have often negatively and disproportionately impacted traditionally underserved communities and have contributed to generational harms.”
People can also provide feedback on NCDOT’s website.
The public has until March 15 to provide feedback on the plan.